1. Field
The exemplary embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for receiving information regarding applications for providing Internet protocol television (IPTV) communication service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internet protocol television (IPTV) service is a service for providing information, moving picture contents, and broadcasting on a TV through an IP network, that is, an ultra-high speed Internet network. As services combining communication and broadcasting have been widely distributed, there is increased interest in IPTV service. Therefore, wide distribution of the IPTV service may largely affect the content industry and electrical appliances, as well as the communication and broadcasting industries.
According to a conventional art, in order for a subscriber of the IPTV service to use the IPTV service through the IP network, the subscriber requires a set-top box that is specific for an IPTV vendor. Only the user having the specific IPTV set-top box that is manufactured according to specifications set by the IPTV service provider may use the IPTV service of the corresponding IPTV service provider. For example, when there are three IPTV service providers, that is, Company A, Company B, and Company C, subscribers who bought the set-top box of company A may only use the IPTV service provided by company A, and they should buy an additional set-top box of company B or company C in order to subscribe for the IPTV service provided by company B or company C. The above problem of compatibility between the IPTV service and the set-top box limits a range of selection, and thus, quality of the IPTV service may be degraded and expansion of the IPTV service may be restricted.
In order to address the above compatibility problem, an open IPTV forum has been recently established to discuss standardization of the set-top box. In this forum, a common standard that is independent from the IPTV service providers and providing the service subscribers with the IPTV service based on the common standard are being discussed.
The open IPTV forum aims to make an interface and a hardware platform that are not dependent upon the IPTV service providers so that the subscriber may easily use the IPTV services provided by IPTV service providers. According to the open IPTV forum architecture, the subscriber may use the IPTV services provided by different IPTV service providers even when the subscriber does not have different set-top boxes, and thus, the range of services that may be selected by the subscriber can be expanded.
In order for the subscriber to use the IPTV services provided by the different IPTV service providers, a functional architecture according to the open IPTV forum includes devices for relaying services of the plurality of IPTV service providers to a residential network. Examples of the relaying devices include entities such as an application gateway (AG) functional entity apparatus, an IMS gateway (IG) functional entity apparatus, and CSP gateway (CG) functional entity apparatus according to the functional architecture of the open IPTV forum. The above relaying devices receive the IPTV services provided from a provider network and relay the IPTV services to terminal devices in the residential network.